Warriors Witchcraft
by Kitten With A Tie
Summary: Hello. My name is Ember. This is my story.


_**I know, "Warriors Witchcraft" sounds like a very, very, very stupid story, but before you go around going "DON'T READ THIS STORY ITS STUPID!11" at least read it before bashing and flaming.**_

In a small little town, there lived a family of cats. And in that family of cats, there was me. My name is Ember, and I live in the city of Magicia.

Anyway, my family and I were just waking up. I stretched in my nest, my ginger fur messy. "Ember!" my mother scolded. "Why haven't you fetched the morning meal yet?"

I looked at my belly, listening to the loud growl. "I just woke up."  
"Why?" she growled. I sighed.

My mother seemed to be getting more and more rude by the the day, since father had gone to the falls to bring back fish.

We were vulnerable without him, yet my mother didn't want my brothers and sisters to know.

"We were up late last night," I pointed out, "waiting for father." My mother flicked her tail across the kits who were curled up against her soft belly.

Her gaze turned from anger to ease. "They were so happy," she whispered. I padded over and nuzzled her neck fur. "Go now," she ordered. "Your brothers and sisters will be up soon."

I flattened my ears. "But.."  
"Now!" I turned to leave, but my mother licked my cheek, and I purred. I started to step out of the box, but then I nearly tripped over a bundle of fur.

"Skip!" I cried. "What are you doing?" Skip lay there, blinking sleep out of his eyes, before quickly getting to his paws.

"I wanted to go hunting with you!" His grey fur was bristling with excitement. "Sorry, Skip," I say with no sympathy.

"When you're older, then you can come with me."  
"Skip! Come here!" Skip's tail drooped and he went back to mother.

I exited through the hole, wincing a little when the broken wood rubbed against my back. I padded through the alley, my ears flat against the sound of carts bumping over stone, and people yelling and shouting.

For a moment I stood there, surveying the scene, my head peering around the corner. A man was wearing a torn cloak, and was holding a box full of chirping and hooting animals.

Another man was standing behind a stand and yelling, while a cart being pulled by a giant grey horse trotted by. The man was holding the reins while cupping his hands over his mouth and shouting out words I couldn't make out.

I pawed at the ground in frustration. I couldn't make out a single scent, except for the smell of humans and the reek of horse poo. Eventually I wandered out of the alley and began sniffing around a box which was turned upright.

My mouth watered as the scent of sausage filled my nostrils. I leaned over, trying to grab a mouthful, but I yowled in pain as I felt something hard connect with my shoulder.

"Thief!" A voice shriked. "Thief!" I turned tail and ran, barely dodging a bottle which came charging in my direction. It landed beside me, and I flinched as a shard of glass grazed my shoulder. I leaped upard and grabbed a piece of metal which jutted out of the side of a building.

I turned my head to see a plump man in a white coat, who was waving a knife. His shirt was stained with blood, and I immediatly knew he was a butcher.

I shivered as I watched the blood on his knife glint in the sun. I narrowed my eyes as I scanned the town for another place to find food. "Shoot!" I cursed, clawing angrily at the metal bar. The town was too busy; I would never be able to find _anything _with all these people walking about.

I looked back at the alley. The fence in front of it stood high, with the hole at the very bottom. Mother would probably make me go hunt, but would she really want me to get ran over by a cart? I sighed.

She _would _take that chance. It's not like she cared about me. I jumped off the metal bar and landed on a trash can. I cursed silently as my paws slipped on the smooth surface and the lid crashed to the ground, along with the whole can.

"Hey! What's that cat doing?" _Crap! _My paws skidded on the trash, but my hind leg was caught on something. I turned my head to see some type of plastic wrapping stuff tangled in my fur.

"Get it!" I half-ran, half dragged myself to the hole. I quickly escaped through it, satisfied when I heard the humans say, "Darn! It got through the hole."  
"Leave it, James. It probably has some sickness or something."

"Then we _should _go after it!"  
"It looked pretty frail enough. It probably went to die." I heard 'James' let out a self-conscious mutter before hearing their footsteps retreat. I looked at my pelt. Hm.. I did look pretty frail. I could see my ribs through my ginger fur.

I could hear playful meowing from the box, and guessed that the kits had woken up. I smiled and padded into my home. "I'm back," I meow, but then I suddenly fall to the ground. I turned my head to see the plastic wrapper caught on the wood in the entrance.

"Ember, is that all you got?" I heard mother say irritably. I turned my head and fixed her with a angry glance. "Don't you want to know if I'm okay?" I grumble.

Mother ignored my comment and sniffed me cautiously. "You smell like meat," she growled. "Have you been stuffing your face with meat while we starve?" I looked at her, my green eyes wide with shock. How _dare _she accuse me of such a thing?! "I-"

"You did!" she cried. "How could you? I thought you cared about your family!" She turned her head, her blue eyes closed with anger and grief.

"I didn't," I whisper. "I swear..." She looked at me. "I'm sorry, Ember. It's just that while your father's gone, you are the eldest of my litter, and the only cat who can hunt for us." Skip trotted up to us. "Ember, did you bring us food?" he asked curiously. I looked at the bag. "I don't know," I admitted. "This got tangled in my foot."

"Let's see it!" I was nearly knocked over when all the kits pounced on the bag, tearing at the wrapper. "Mother!" cried a pale grey kit. "Ember brought us a mouse!" I looked at the kit carefully. "When did humans start hunting mice?" Skip picked up the mouse by its tail. "It smells like Fang's breath," he announced.

"No!" Fang cried, his dark grey fur bristling. "Does too!"  
"Does not!"  
"Does too!"

"Stop that," Mother mewed gently, then turned to me. "Ember, you know better then to bring back crow-food." I flattened my ears. "But I told you," I murmur. "I didn't know what was in it. "You should've checked it."

"I was being chased by humans!"  
"You should have been more careful." She fixed me with her calm, yet stern blue stare. "Now, you go hunting. And don't come back unless you find something that we can all eat." My jaw gaped open. "But I just came back!"

She waved her tail. "What's your point?" she asked. "Go, now. I heard it's going to rain later today." I turned away, but not before tripping over Skip again.

"This mouse is yummy," he mewed. "Even though it smells horrible." I sniffed the mouse, recoiling at the smell. "Yuck!" I licked my whiskers. "Hey.. what's that?" The mouse had some kind of weird thing around its neck, like a tiny metal bar had snapped around its throat.

"I don't know," Skip responded. "But I don't care." He took another bite, purring with content. I exited the box, and set off in the direction opposite of the town. I flattened my ears as I realized that mother had never shown me this part of the town.

I jumped onto a fence, and gasped when I realized how weak it was. I quickly jumped off and landed on the ground, which was a slick stone path. My pelt fluffed out as I realized that there was fog, and that the sounds of the town were drifting off into the distance

Fear swept like a claw down my spine, and I gulped as I heard the sound of paws skittering over gravel. "Hello?" My voice echoed over the skinny trees. I began to trot along the path, my nose twitching.

My ears pricked as I saw a shape in the distance. A whirring filled my ears, along with clanging and frustrated grunts. I padded to the shack, more curious then caring about hunting for my family. The shack was very big, with stained windows and peeling paint. The smell of oil and metal filled my nose, and I snorted.

I turned to leave, but instead I ran face-to-face into a giant, snarling creature. "What are you doing here?" the animal snarled, circling me. "I-I..." I couldn't come up with a excuse, and I found myself crouching down, the tip of my tail twitching with fear.

"No animal ever leaves this town alive..." the creature's voice was a whisker length from my ear. "Do you know why?" I looked at the creature, my ears pinned to my head. "Why?" I squeaked.

"Because of me," the animal growled. I surveyed the creature. It had pure black fur, with see through paws and giant claws that were bigger then a kit. It had a long, fox-like muzzle, and its eyes were sunken into its head and clouded over. Its long, thick tail was swaying back and forth, and I noticed the tail tip was lit with a burning blue flame.

_It's a ghost dog! _I yowled to myself, and knew that they were the most dangerous creatures ever. "And you," the dog growled, "are my supper." His growl rumbled deep in his chest, and he took a menacing step towards me.

"Uh... look over there!" The dog's cloudy eyes didn't budge. "It's a flying piano!" He didn't move. "A female ghost dog!" The animal's head snapped to the side. I immediatly scrambled to my paws and darted away. "Hey!"

I could feel the dog's hot breath beating down my back, and I supressed a shriek of terror. I launched myself onto a plank of wood and scrambled onto a fence, my tail tucked beneath me.

I stood on the giant piece of wood, watching the dog put his paws on the fence barking with rage that he had lost his prey.

Eventually the dog removed himself from the fence, his cloudy eyes glowing in the gloom. "I'll get you," he growled, before turning away and lumbering into the fog. I watched, eyes wide, as his flaming tail disappeared.

"That was brave." A voice mewed, and I turned to see glowing amber eyes. I started to back away. Man, this day was getting weirder and weirder!

"It's alright," the cat purred. "I'm not only eyes." I heard the sound of a clock ticking, and the lithe body of a black and white cat appeared. I jumped, then my hackles raised.

"Leave me alone!" I spat. The cat flinched. "I don't want any of your fur," he meowed calmly. "It's just that you don't belong in this neighborhood." I licked down the bristling fur on my shoulders. "What makes you think that?"

"You don't know who I am." I turned and fixed him with a green stare. "Who are you?"

The cat stuck his nose up in the air. "My name is Claw." I snorted and crouched down, giving my paw a anxious lick. "I'd better go."

"Wait!" Claw stopped me. "Don't you want something to eat first?" I looked off into the distance, seeing the faint outline of a fence. "I should really get going . . ."

Claw flicked his tail. "Well, here." He nudged me some sort of sack. "That should last you a while." I sniffed it curiously, before nodding and slinging it over my shoulder."Come back to visit," he says.

"No way!" I say, a little too harshly. "Well, maybe." I pounce off the fence and head off into the fog. I ran as fast as I could, even though many times I tripped. When I reached the fence, Skip was waiting for me, along with Fang and Breeze. "What are you three doing?" I ask, dropping the bag.

"Mother made us come outside," Breeze answered. "Why?" I tilt my head. The last thing my mother would do was send three young kits outside on their own.  
"I don't know," Breeze answered. "She was it was something about waiting for you to come back," Fang added.

"Why would she worry about me? Hours ago all she cared about was me hunting." I picked up the bag and headed back to the box, but when I tried to put the bag in, it wouldn't go in. "Give me a paw, will you?" We ripped open the bag and started to push in the contents.

_Sasuages, mice, rabbits... wow! This cat must really care about us. _When we stepped in, the kits were all pouncing on my loot, letting out mews of happiness. "Where did you get this?" Mother demanded. "You didn't steal it, did you? The last thing we need is humans after us."

"No," I replied. "A strange cat gave it to me." Mother sighed. "I guess 'don't take prey from strangers' won't do any good."

She flicked her tail towards the nests which were lined up against the thick walls of our den. "Well, I think you should rest. You'll need it."

My belly rumbled, and I quickly grabbed a sasuage before darting into my nest. At once, I felt paws poking at my pelt, and opened one of my eyes. "Ember! Tell us a story!" Breeze ordered, her green eyes wide with excitement.

I yawned, pushing the remains of my sasuage away. "A short one, okay?" The kits crowded in front of me, and I looked at all their innocent faces. I supressed a sigh.

Father was going to take all that away if he didn't return. Kits simply cannot be raised without a father, and I surely can't be a father, since, I am, duh, a she-cat.

"Ember." I let out an annoyed noise; I was just about to tell the kits about the ghost dog. I padded over to my mother and sat down in front of her.

"Yes?" She looked around before dipping her head and mewing in a hushed voice. "The prey collectors are coming tomorrow." I froze. "Prey collectors?" She had never told me that we had prey collectors!

"Yes," she whispered. "Bob and Jerry. And they're tough, too. Make sure that you hide the kits carefully. Jerry has a taste for kit blood." Mother shivered.

I started to back away, but my mother stopped me. "Ember, I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you." she whispered. "It's just that when your father leaves, Bob and Jerry can do whatever they like to us."

_So that's the reason why she's being so mean and jumpy! _I gave a brisk nod, and my mother dismissed me with the twitch of her long whiskers. I quickly padded over to my nest and slumped down.

"Keep telling us a story!" Fang insisted. I hadn't noticed that the kits had circled me, their eyes wide with excitement. "Why don't you just go to sleep?" I murmur. "We have a busy day tomorrow." The kits obidiently closed in on me and cuddled into my fur, but Skip sat down on his rear and looked at me stubbornly.

"I'm not tired!" he protested. "Skip, you mouse-brain!" Breeze mewed from under my tail. "She said that we have a busy day tomorrow! Unless you want to be sleeping all morning while we get to have fun all day, I suggest you sleep!"

I looked at my sister with surprise. Normally she would've just scoffed and called him stupid, then went to go and wrestle with Fang.

"Come on." I gestured to a spot beside Swift, who was on his back, paws in all directions. "He'll be kicking me all night!" Skip complained, still not wanting to go to sleep. "I'll make sure that he doesn't," I grumble, my eyelids going heavier by the second.

"Fine," Skip mewed as he crawled over to curl up next to his brother. I sighed and curled my tail around my kin, feeling safe and warm. I silently asked myself if I would ever sleep with my family again with all this drama and danger.

_**How did you like it? :D Please review.**_


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